The Baseball
The Baseball is an episode of Hey Arnold!. Synopsis Arnold's favorite baseball player, Mickey Kaline, is about to retire, and Arnold's determined to go to his last game. PLot The kids are playing a game of baseball on the street. Harold is pitching while Arnold is at bat. After two strikes, Harold begins to taunt Arnold, comparing him to Mickey Kaline, to which Arnold takes in stride. Harold's next pitch is sent flying by Arnold's huge swing, leaving Harold to chase brand-new baseball. After the game, the kids are praising Arnold for that great hit. Arnold humbly says he just thought of his idol Mickey Kaline and just hit a homer. Once Eugene asks who Mickey Kaline is, this prompts Arnold to pull out a safe from his backpack containing Mickey Kaline memorabilia. Arnold confirms that Mickey is his favorite baseball player of all time. He then starts listing random trivia about the baseball player to everyone, including Gerald's, annoyance. Arnold is then interrupted by Ernie criticizing Mickey Kaline while watching a live game on television with Mr. Green, who is said to be "a mere shadow of his former self" after repeatedly striking out. Mr. Green also says that tomorrow would be Mickey's last game, as he would be retiring soon. Arnold, in complete shock, then tells Gerald that the two must show up at the game tomorrow. Unfortunately, they do not have enough money to go for now, but Arnold declares that he'll get the money in time. Later in his room, Arnold realizes that Gerald was right that they do not have enough money. Grandpa then shows up and asks Arnold to check his earnings from the dog-washing business. Arnold believes it still wouldn't be enough, but checks anyway. While Arnold is looking for the extra money, Grandpa then slips some extra money into Arnold's savings. Once Arnold comes back to his desk, he joyfully discovers that he does have enough for the game and thanks Grandpa for his quick thinking. Grandpa laughs to himself, exclaiming that it just takes "five bucks" to make a kid happy, only to realize he accidentally gave Arnold a fifty instead; he then calls Arnold back for his fifty. Arnold and Gerald are in line at Quigley Stadium, where Gerald is told that the two only have enough money for the tickets and maybe one hot dog. Then the two are approached by a ticket scalper offering them "better seats" at half price. The better seats are right next to a a column in the nosebleeds. Because of the giant beam and plaster falling from the ceiling, the game is barely enjoyable. Eventually, Arnold decides to go to the bottom section to see the game for real, but Gerald warns him at if caught, security would kick them out for sure. The two boys are eventually caught by ushers, who ask them where their seats are. The two then try to escape the ushers, but Gerald is caught. Arnold barely escapes the ushers once Kaline is called up to bat. The announcer then proclaims that this is most likely Mickey Kaline's last time at bat as people from outside Mr. Green's shop to the boarding house watch on TV. Mickey hits a home run, which coincidentally is caught by Arnold (which is seen live on national television as Arnold runs from the ushers). Arnold and Gerald return to the boarding house, where Mr. Green and others offer a lot of money for Arnold's baseball since it was Mickey's last homer ever. During a TV interview, Mickey is revealed to have mixed feelings about ending his career since baseball was basically all he ever wanted to do. After the interview, Arnold then starts to feel a little bummed that he could not give anything to Mickey Kaline since he's given so much for Arnold. After hearing this, Grandpa assures his grandson that there is a way to give back to Mickey and drives him to Quigley Field, where Mickey is standing all alone. Arnold then offers his idol the exact baseball that marked his last home run. Mickey thanks Arnold, explaining that he loved baseball since the days he used to play catch with his dad to the time he hit the homer last afternoon. Before Arnold could leave, Mickey then convinces Arnold to play catch with him as he starts to tell the story of his time in the World Series against Bob Gibson. External links *Discussion of this episode in Hey Arnold! Rewatch community on LiveJournal Category:Episodes Category:Episodes that focus on Arnold Category:Season 1 Category:Episodes in need of a transcript